uSwitch Energy Awards 2014

For the first time, small suppliers are included in the uSwitch Energy Awards - and they trumped the big six in nearly every category

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Every year, the uSwitch Energy Awards takes an independent survey of more than 5,000 energy consumers, asking them about everything from customer service to reward schemes, transfer process to meter services. This page will tell you how each of the big six as well as two small suppliers scored.

First, the overview: for overall customer satisfaction, Ovo Energy takes the prize. An impressive 86% of Ovo Energy's customers reported being satisfied with their supplier. This is the highest customer satisfaction rating ever recorded in the history of uSwitch Energy Awards!

Alternately, npower scored at the bottom with its customers; just 58% reporting being satisfied. However, the supplier has improved over last year's score, and has made an 11% improvement since 2012.

But what about everyone else? Who scored the best in the big six? Who has the best customer service? You can check out more about where each supplier scored — including where they dominated and where they failed — below.

Supplier of the Year 2014 — OVO Energy

It's official. OVO Energy is the UK's favourite energy supplier in 2014. This was the first time any small suppliers were included in these awards, and Ovo arrived with a record-breaking overall score of 86%.

They managed this by coming in at #1 in the following categories:

Most Likely to Recommend

Value for Money

Best Deal for You

Customer Service

Billing Services

Meter Services

Online Services

Green Services

Transfer Process

"OVO was built around our customers," Jason Sharpe, MD of OVO Energy, said of the news. "Giving them the best possible experience is the most important challenge for the business every day. We’re delighted with this result and we want to thank our customers for believing in us, but we know there’s always more we can do."

#2 First Utility Customer Satisfaction in 2014

First Utility didn't come close to Ovo Energy's score, but still out-scored the big six with a 79% rating from its customers.

The small supplier (which is actually the biggest supplier outside of the big six, reaching 1 million accounts this year) only managed second place as its best rank in any category. The supplier ranked #2 in: Most Likely to be Recommended; Value for Money; Best Deal for You; Online Services; and Transfer Process.

Ed Kamm, Chief Customer Officer at First Utility, says, "Our mission is to save our customers money on their energy bills. With 80% of customers saying they get value for money and 76% saying they would recommend us, we are pleased to see that we’re delivering on our mission. We will continue to pass on cost savings by ensuring we offer the best deals we can, alongside investing in customer service to drive customer satisfaction even higher."

Large Supplier of the Year 2014 E.ON

Not only did E.ON score the top of the big six, the supplier increased on its score from last year by 5%.

E.ON was also the only one of the big six to score #1 in any categories, which were the following:

Incentives and Rewards

Energy Efficiency

David Bird, Customer Operations Director at E.ON, says, "We’re proud to be rated number one for customer satisfaction amongst the bigger suppliers for the third year running. It’s heartening to see that not only has our performance improved, but that for the last four years we’ve retained first position for both reward schemes and energy efficiency, which is testament to our colleagues' efforts in helping customers find the best tariff for them and in using no more energy than they need.

"Our customers continue to be our absolute priority. This is why we continue to listen to our customers and make changes to deliver improvements that matter to them."

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#4 EDF Energy Customer Satisfaction in 2014

EDF Energy may have scored fourth (or second of the big six), but the supplier increased its Customer Service satisfaction the most — by 8%.

#5 SSE Customer Satisfaction in 2014

Last year, SSE topped the big six in the most coveted category, Customer Service, as it has for the past nine years running. However, this year the supplier slipped to fifth place in this category (or third among the big six).

#6 British Gas Customer Satisfaction in 2014

The biggest gas and electricity supplier in the UK, British Gas came in at #6 this year.

British Gas managed its highest score in the Billing Services category, where it ranked fourth overall. This might not seem impressive, but given the billing troubles that plagued many of the suppliers (including Ovo Energy, who placed #1) this year, it's worth noting.

#7 ScottishPower Customer Satisfaction in 2014

Big six gas and electricity supplier ScottishPower came in at #7 this year (or fifth among the big six), scoring 64%. This is down 3% from its overall score in 2013, making ScottishPower the only supplier to not improve on its score year-on-year.

#8 npower Customer Satisfaction in 2014

In last place in the uSwitch Energy Awards is npower with a score of just 58%. This is the seventh consecutive year the energy supplier has come in at the bottom of the list, though it has made slight improvement (1%) over its last year score.

Npower came in last or second-to-last in every category except Incentives and Rewards, for which it came in fifth.

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